Cosmic Castaway (Cosmic Romances #3)

7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

We are not alone.

After Serlotminden was deep asleep, I wiggled out of his hold and unwound his tail from my calf. He was a tactile person, always trying to touch me, but it didn’t feel like he was creeping on me, more like he was reassuring himself that I was still here—that he wasn’t alone. Vince had done that at times. He’d needed to hold my hand or pull me close to feel safe.

Tactile people needed to be touched. I got that, even if I didn’t reciprocate the feeling.

I crawled over him and left the warmth of the tent, flicking the lantern back on—it shut itself off on a timer and I didn’t know how to change it. Serlotminden probably did, but when he was last awake that hadn’t been my main concern—making sure he ate had been.

The frigid temperature of the shuttle made me shiver as my breath rushed out in a foggy cloud. Fuck. It was mind-numbingly cold out here. The tent was probably not that warm, not that I had a thermometer, but it was a million times better than the rest of the cabin.

Snagging some of the clothes from the tent as well as a blanket, I tugged on a loose pair of pants over my thin jumpsuit. Serlotminden wasn’t much taller than me, but he was far wider. He was exceedingly muscular, like he was intimately familiar with the gym. That had never been my scene, even prior to being abducted. I tied a piece of rope around my waist to keep them in place—the hole in the back for Serlotminden’s tail worked perfectly as a belt loop—then wrapped the blanket around me.

I started to sort through more panels. The rations were in an insulated container, so I didn’t worry about them freezing. There were circuit boards and tech parts that meant nothing to me, more clothes, these were jumpsuits, a couple of pillows, a bottle of thick liquid that smelled like Serlotminden’s rainy fragrance, a bar of what I assumed was soap, and not much else. I shoved the pillows and clothes into the tent, then went to the cockpit.

The front window was broken inward from the crash. Snow and rocks blocked it. We weren’t getting out that way. I had no idea what to do with the computer, so I left it alone.

The cargo bay was small, with a couple of locked crates in it. One was about the length of my arms, but the other came to my chest and was twice or maybe three times my width. They would have to wait until Serlotminden was awake, unless I planned to hit them with some of the larger pieces of debris in the hopes of breaking the locks.

That didn’t seem smart. For all I knew, there were explosives or weapons inside that wouldn’t appreciate being hit.

Ice and frost covered the metal walls and floor, but the bay door was easy to identify. I slammed the button closest to the hatch, assuming it opened the door, but nothing happened. There was no power anywhere in the ship—even the emergency lights in the cockpit had turned off—so I wasn’t too surprised. Hopefully, it was that rather than snow blocking the entrance. If the latter was the case, no one would find us, and a horrible death awaited us.

Serlotminden would probably eat me. Maybe that was better than dying of thirst. At least I didn’t have to worry about it at this exact moment. He wasn’t doing anything physical until he healed. If I thought he was going to kill me… then I guessed I could do him in first.

I swallowed as screams and the thud of fists on metal echoed in my mind. Nope. That wasn’t going to happen.

Whatever. It was what it was. Stressing about it right now didn’t help anything.

My hands ran over the door. Maybe there was a manual override. That was a thing, right? I was working on sketchy knowledge from sci-fi shows and books and the limited access to technology I’d been allowed on Xome. A panel near the door popped open; a lever sat inside. I yanked on it with a loud groan. Shoulders screaming and arms trembling, I pulled and pulled and fucking pulled.

The bay door slowly creaked open. Wind gusted in and chunks of snow and ice tumbled inside, but the way was clear. Closing the door might be a problem, but it was the future me’s problem. I wasn’t going to worry about it at this exact moment.

Carefully, I climbed out, slipping on the frozen ground.

The shuttle had crashed into a cliff, and debris covered most of the ship, leaving the bay door clear. Anyone flying above wouldn’t see us. I had no idea if Serlotminden’s boyfriend would perceive our signature or whatever it was called because of the rocks; I truthfully didn’t know how it worked. Cleaning the bodies and shit left behind from the fights hadn’t given me much access to technology, so my knowledge was extremely limited.

Dark blue trees with dancing fronds like palm trees formed a jungle in the distance. The cliff behind us was tall enough I couldn’t see the top, and it was a sheer drop, neither of which bothered me, but the car-sized nests sure as hell did. They were ginormous and formed from huge branches into spheres with gaping doors that had rough hides covering the entrances.

I hunched as a prey feeling swept through me, making me freeze like a deer caught in headlights.

What kind of animal even used a nest that size? Nothing I wanted to meet, as it most likely enjoyed skinny human. That would be a fitting end to the worst rescue in the history of rescues. Eaten by an alien bird.

My gaze roved over the nests, searching for any movement. There were no squawks, no cries, no creaks from the branches. I didn’t see the flutter of wings or anything similar. In fact, there was no movement whatsoever, which was eerie.

Perhaps the nests were empty.

It was possible that whatever massive avians occupied the cliff had flown to warmer temperatures. That’s what happened on Earth. Why not here? Or the nests might be old and have been abandoned. There was no way to know.

I could stay here hunched like a rabbit or I could move forward. Nothing was threatening me, and the current danger was the cold. Forcing myself to breathe, I waited for my muscles to relax, then slowly stood. Tense, I crept away from the shuttle, shoulders curled against the cold.

Snow, snow, and more snow. I didn’t see much else. It covered everything. The only signs of life were the trees, which moved independently without wind. I gave them a wide berth. For all I knew, they ate people. That was not how I planned to go.

My feet left a path back to the ship as I searched. For what? I didn’t know. People? Civilization? A fully stocked spaceship to get Vince, then go home? I hoped so, though that was unlikely.

A growl sounded, and icy adrenaline raced through my veins. My limbs turned to steel and my thoughts sped in a hundred different directions. I tried to drop, but my muscles refused to respond as my heart thrashed against my ribs. Another low growl came from even closer, sending another jolt of white-hot terror through me. My foot slipped on the icy snow, and I crashed to the ground, muscles locked, but thankfully, a mound of snow hid my slight form.

A massive creature strode by. They were near eight feet tall with four arms, towering horns, and short light blue fur that was striped with icy gray streaks. The fur did nothing to hide the muscles upon muscles the alien was built with. They wore a vest decorated with bones and a fur loincloth. Their wide feet broke through the snow with little trouble as they held a wicked spear in their humongous, six-fingered grasp.

The alien had a flat nose like a cat, and they sniffed constantly. They had a heavy brow that hung over their deep set yellow eyes, which never stopped roving.

I stayed perfectly motionless and tried to take small breaths so as to not alert them to my presence. This alien was an unknown entity. They might be friendly, which would be nice, though unlikely in my limited experience with the universe. Clearly, they were a hunter. Whether that meant they were a solitary species or not, I had no idea.

The alien suddenly stopped not far from me, and a low rumble sounded in their broad chest. I stopped breathing and begged the universe, God, anything out there for this creature to not notice me. I did not want to be abducted for a third time.

After what felt like a thousand years, the alien stalked toward the trees.

When they vanished from sight, a huge gust of air rushed out of me—that had been too fucking close. I shakily got to my feet and ripped the blanket off, shivering in the freezing air, but I didn’t care. A straight path of my footprints led to the shuttle. It couldn’t remain. Bent over, I walked backward to obscure my earlier steps with the blanket. My fingers turned red, burning from the extended contact with the snow, and I shivered terribly; none of that mattered, though. I had to not lead a potential threat directly to us.

Kicking the ice and snow off the hatch door, I cleared the way as quickly as physically possible. Snot leaked from my nose, freezing to my face in streaks. I struggled to breathe and my limbs shook from exertion, but I refused to stop. When I stepped inside, I tried to grasp the lever, but my numb fingers wouldn’t cooperate. I shoved them into my armpits, swearing at the sudden bite of cold.

Hopping, I said, “Warm up. Just warm up. For the love of god, warm up.”

I tried again and managed to curl my fingers around the lever. With a hard yank back, I groaned, “Close. Close. Close. Fucking close, damn you.”

Painstakingly slow, the door shut with a resounding thud.

The blanket was caked in snow, so I shook it off and draped it over a crate. Who knew if it would dry? Was that a thing? I wasn’t sure. I had zero experience with snow.

I shuffled out of my extra clothes, as they were covered in ice and I didn’t want it to melt in the warmth of the tent, then crawled inside. Serlotminden was still asleep. I snuggled against him, trying to get as close as possible, moaning low in my throat. God. He was like a heater. I shoved my hands beneath him, digging them into his shirt and placing them right against his scales, and my digits burned from the searing heat of him.

He grunted. “You’re cold.”

My teeth clattered together too much for me to answer, so I didn’t.

His arm came around me, holding me securely to his side while his tail coiled around my calf. “I have you…” His voice trailed off into a snarling noise that I didn’t understand, but I doubted it was anything negative because it sounded soft.

I buried against his neck and breathed in his clean scent until my heart slowed to a normal pace. The heat from Serlotminden eventually permeated my limbs to the point I could uncurl and lie against him. I pulled my hands from beneath him, draping an arm over his waist. My fingers automatically traveled over his chest, the silky fabric of his shirt catching on my callouses.

We were not alone on this planet. Birds of some kind might inhabit the nests on the cliff. A huge alien lived near where we crashed. The trees moved independently. It was balls-cold. I had no idea how to find food.

We were fucked. I’d been better off with Vince at the fighting arena.

Even as I thought that, my muscles tightened and my breath sped up. A tremor traveled up my spine, and I clutched Serlotminden’s shirt. No. I didn’t want to go back. I never wanted to go back. Please don’t make me go back , I thought desperately as a wail sounded in my mind and the searing fire from the incinerator scorched my arms.

Serlotminden tightened his hold on me, muttering unintelligibly under his breath. The sudden tension that had consumed me eked out, leaving me quite weightless. I wrapped my arms around him, feeling… oddly secure. I sighed. I hadn’t felt safe in a very long time. It was idiotic to feel safe next to the alien that abducted me, even though he’d been trying to rescue me.

Nonetheless, the feeling persisted.

Pressing tightly to Serlotminden, I went to sleep, exhausted. The future would keep for a few hours.